A Song for Saturday

Guess who's back...

The best rapper in the world is back with another hot track, Crack A Bottle. It is sure to be overplayed, but while its still fresh, enjoy.

And don't worry, its the clean version....

Slo-Mo Punches

As many of you may know, I have an affinity for still shots of boxers getting blasted in the face. Well, this is a close second.

The build up takes a minute, but the pay-off is great.

Enjoy:


Funny Slow Motion Punches - Watch more Free Videos

Man of Steele

First comes Hillary, then comes Sarah. First comes Barack, then comes this.

Kudos to them. Better late than never, right?

Palin 2012?

Golly, I hope so. Just for sheer comedic value. I'll even put one of her stickers on my car!

Sa-rah, Sa-rah, Sa-rah....

Super Bowl Champ?

You heard it here first! In these playoffs I am 7-3 picking games. I'm good at it.

If you would have told me a month ago I'd be making this pick, I would have laughed at you. But I know inspired ball when I see it, and Arizona is playing inspired ball.

2008 Super Bowl Champion Arizona Cardinals.

What a wonderful game....

I'll Work for Free

Our country needs more stories like this:

On Jan. 18, 17 of Mr. B's 31 employees worked exclusively for tips so the boss could trim the payroll in what Barham describes as "tight" economic times. The staff -- organized by VanDam, who is the restaurant's lead server -- was able to save Barham about $700 for a day's work. Employees earned more than $800 in gratuities, which was divided equally among the shift workers, who each took home $51 for a day's work.

I love a great prank!

OK. Sorry for the grainy video quality here, but this is well worth it. Watch till the end. Just when you think you've seen all they have to offer, it gets better. Gotta love the Japs, they have guts!

Enjoy:


We Know Its A Repost... - Watch more Free Videos

Visual Onomatopoeia

Or something like that.

Holding his feet to the fire....

The Obameter is a great tool and, I think, should be applied to all elected officials. It catalogues all his campaign promises and checks them off as he either fulfills, breaks or compromises on them. Good stuff.

Best. Inauguration. Photo. Period.

It is 1,474 megapixels big. You can zoom in on lapel buttons for as far as the eye can see. Seriously: amazing stuff. David Bergman made it out of 220 separate photos.

See if you can find a NFL head coach (hint: its Lovie Smith of Bears fame)and a sleeping Supreme Court Justice, you already know who it is, don't you?

Not Drinking the Kool-Aid

Denver Nicks, writer for the Daily Beast, hits the streets to talk to the citizens of Oklahoma to gauge their feelings about their new President. No state was more anti-Obama in this election.

Obama lost every county. And while nearly every county in America went more Democratic in 2008 than in 2004, southeastern Oklahoma is in a political red sea in the center of the country that responded to “yes we can” with a resounding “I hope we don’t,” voting significantly more Republican than it did four years ago.

His findings were disturbing, to say the least. Don't let the TV tell you racism is dead, cause it ain't:

As a corollary to this new populism, another persistent theme emerged during my travels in Oklahoma. Though many people were reluctant to go on the record saying so, most agreed that racism played an important role in Obama’s especially poor showing in the state. Bill Morgan is owner, editor-and-chief, reporter, and columnist of the Hughes County Times, and has lived in Wetumka for over half a century. He is theatrically cantankerous and unabashedly Republican. The November 5 headline of his newspaper read “Hughes County, Oklahoma, ‘No Wanna’ Obama.”

Barack-tion Figure

Leave it to the Japanese. I gotta get me one....

Mr. Patriotic:



Mr. Shaft:



And my favorite....

Mr. Skywalker:



I had a Star Wars post this week and many Obama posts, and now I've found a way to marry the two. Didn't see that one commin', did ya?

Check out other poses here.

A Song for Saturday

Paramore is an interesting group. They play pop-rock, but I have a hard time dismissing them as fluff as I do the majority of bands in the genre. This song particularly caught my ear the other day because of its dark tone. Most pop groups stay away from that. Also there is an emotional honesty in the song. When she digs for those high notes you can tell that she's feelin' the words. They resonate.

Plus I like the question the song poses: How did we get here?

Enjoy.

All Aboard (No Longer) Air Force-One

If you're like me, you wondered what it was like on Bush's last ride. This guy was there and wrote about it:

President Bush acknowledged that before Obama was even sworn in today, he knew his life had changed when his usual morning papers failed to be delivered at the White House.

Barack-berry

(President Obama becoming the first President to use his PDA in the Whitehouse)


So, you're now the most powerful man in the world and you want to be the first President to use a PDA what do you do? You get a super secure, James Bond, Fort Knox-esque PDA! Thats what...

Remix

Wyclef made a remix to Fast Car with Lupe. It has a little more funk than the Paul Simon duet. I like it. You will too.

(Hat Tip: J.Burnsy)

Star Wars

As told by someone who has never seen it:


Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Repentance

OK, I've been going heavy on the politics for the last few days (for obvious reasons). I'm going to try and get back to mixing it up better. Promise...

Quote of the Day

"I didn't like the line in [Obama's] speech...about how we don't have to compromise our values to protect ourselves. I think sometimes we do. I think sometimes we have to be realistic and do things that aren't Army-Field-Manual polite. We can't give the Lazy-E-Boys to the captured terrorists. We can't give them the iced tea and wind chimes. And I think that was oversimplifying, and kind of a cheap shot at the Bush administration. ... [Liberals] would torture the hell out of Bush if they could, can you imagine?" -Bill O'Riely on his show yesterday.

I typically don't have a problem with Bill. I listen to/watch his show from time to time. He obviously leans to the right, but I think he presents his arguments well and I feel like he tries to stay away from mud-slinging. But when I heard this on my drive home last night, my mouth fell agape.

If we have to compromise our values, why are we any better than those who commit acts of terror? Really, Bill?!? Really???

Watchmen, Ctd.

OK, so, I just finished reading the Watchmen book. Well, its a "Graphic Novel", but your mom would call it a comic book. But whatever you want to call it, it was wild. Its going to be very interesting to see the screen adaptation (My preview here.).

I can understand, now, why the big fans of the book considered its story impossible to put on the screen. So, I hope it is done justice.

You guys will dig it.

A Different Point of View

(Afghan men watch a television broadcast showing the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, at a restaurant in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Jan 20, 2009.)

More inauguration images you haven't seen.

And some behind-the-scenes shots.

Inspiration

(African-Iraqi men sing last month after their group, the Free Iraqi Movement, was approved as a political party to run in upcoming local elections in Basra.)

The election of Barack Obama is not just inspiring African-Americans, but African-Iraqis too.

For many years, the black residents of Zubayr say, they have lived a second-class existence in Basra province, an area where Africans were first brought as slaves about 1,500 years ago. They hold no political office, often live in crippling poverty and are still sometimes referred to as "slaves" by other Iraqis.

Yet, taking inspiration from Obama's campaign, a slate of black Iraqis who call themselves the Free Iraqi Movement is making a long-shot run in the elections for provincial legislatures Jan. 31.

"We heard Obama's message of change," said Jalal Chijeel, secretary of the political party. "Iraq needs change in how they see their own black-skinned people. We need our brothers to accept us."

The eight black candidates are competing with 1,800 others for 35 legislative seats in the Shiite-dominated, oil-rich province.

"Even if we don't win, this is a very important first step to allow us to take our place as leaders in Iraq," said Sala al-Qais, 45, a black candidate who acknowledges his chances are slim.

Any of this sound familiar? Progress is a beautiful thing.

A greater man than me once said: "As long as their are some without justice, none of us have justice."

I'll be rooting for these folks.

You?

"I'm Sorry"

We can pretend, can't we?

President Obama

January 3rd, 2008. I was in Asheville, NC just coming off of a mountain where I was skiing with some friends. We hadn't been near a TV all night, so, I was anxious to get back to the car and turn on the satellite radio to hear the returns of the Iowa caucuses, the first contest of the election season. I was just as amazed as the rest of the world to learn that, not only had Obama won, but he had done so in a big way. Even more shocking than that, the so-called front runner, Hillary Clinton, was in a fight for second place (which she would eventually lose). Me and my car-mates were Obama fans at the time, but we didn't know how realistic his chances really were, but we were hopeful. When we got to the restaurant where we were meeting our friends for dinner, a few of us stayed in the car to listen to Barack's victory speech, sensing we were in the front row seat to history. In the car with us was a fellow visiting the States from Australia. He knew even less about Obama than most US residents, he had only seen his name in the paper a few times. So, he stayed to listen to the speech with the rest of us. After it was over he turned to us and said, "I don't know much about US politics, but that guy is gonna win." I hoped he was right. And as it turns out, what he heard that night, the country heard too. And that's why we are where we are today.

If you've never heard it,or, even if you have, make sure you see it again.
(Watch/Read it here.)

What was just starting then, they'll be teaching our children about as long as children are taught in this country. What a moment...

An Excerpt:

You know, they said this day would never come.

They said our sights were set too high.

They said this country was too divided; too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose.

But on this January night - at this defining moment in history - you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do. You have done what the state of New Hampshire can do in five days. You have done what America can do in this New Year, 2008. In lines that stretched around schools and churches; in small towns and big cities; you came together as Democrats, Republicans and Independents to stand up and say that we are one nation; we are one people; and our time for change has come.

You said the time has come to move beyond the bitterness and pettiness and anger that's consumed Washington; to end the political strategy that's been all about division and instead make it about addition - to build a coalition for change that stretches through Red States and Blue States. Because that's how we'll win in November, and that's how we'll finally meet the challenges that we face as a nation.

We are choosing hope over fear. We're choosing unity over division, and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America.

Its hard to overstate how monumental this moment is, not just in US history; but in world history. Its not that the guy is black and he won. Its that being black didn't stop him from winning. We, as a nation, looked at the candidates and selected who we thought was best. That's incredible. I believe US politics will look back at this year as a benchmark for all time. You're going to see everyone running for offices big and small. The floodgates will crash open. Minorities and those with disabilities and those otherwise doubtful about their chances will say " A guy named Barack was elected President. Why not me?" And that is great news for us all. Imagine the talent we'll see coming from all corners of the nation. It will be amazing.

Barack will write the story over the next 4 (to 8) years and he'll both succeed and fail quite a bit. But we as a country already owe him a debt of gratitude that we can express now: He has shown us what can be if we want it to be.

And whether you voted for him or not, you can say 'amen' to that.

The Obama Era Begins

Again, Andrew nails it:

Money Quote:

The baby-boomer generation, reared and suckled on post-Vietnam divides, staged their battles like bitter spouses after years of a failed marriage who never really planned on divorce. Now, with this first post-boomer politician, the children who witnessed their parents’ endless fighting have taken over. And it’s the children who seem like adults.

Take a few largely symbolic things that Obama has done since November 4. He gave his chief rival and fierce competitor, Hillary Clinton, the biggest job in his government. He reached out to John McCain, his opponent in the autumn campaign, and will hold a dinner in McCain’s honour soon. He asked a powerful evangelical voice, Rick Warren, to give the inaugural invocation.

Last week he dined with a group of Republican columnists who endorsed his opponent. The dinner was at the home of George Will, the closest America gets to a Tory mind. He did this before he talked to any journalists who had actually supported him. At the Pentagon, Obama has asked Bush’s appointee, Robert Gates, to stay on. He asked Mark Dybul, Bush’s only openly gay appointee, to remain as global Aids co-ordinator. This is not Karl Rove’s America. In so many ways, it symbolises its undoing.

Obama acts like a kind of antacid to the American stomach. He has walked through the churn of racial and cultural and religious polarisation and somehow calmed everyone down.

First Picture Ever.

(This photograph was only discovered in 2002 and is now known to be the very first permanent photograph ever taken by Nicéphore Niépce - the father of photography. Taken in 1825)

This is an image of an engraving of a man walking a horse and it was made using a technique known as heliogravure. The method involves a piece of copper covered with light sensitive bitumen. This metal plate is exposed to light and creates an image which is then transferred to paper. The image has been declared a national treasure by the French government and it sold for $392,000 at auction to the French National Library.


More photographic firsts here.

8 Years in 8 Minutes.

I watch Kieth Olbermann every night. He is hyper-partisan and makes no apologies for it, but he makes his points clearly and he's funny, so I tolerate him. This video is a pretty amazing collection of what he considers to have been the high-lights of the Bush Presidency. Now, I don't necessarily condone the tone with which he does it, and he obviously leaves out any good that Bush did; but that being said, the facts are the facts. Now, I'll grant him this: anyone who has all of their failures collected and heaped together in a montage will look pretty bad, but them's the brakes when you're El Presidente', no?

As I was watching this all I could think was: "How did we let this happen?". This is must see TV. I hope we have all learned something.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

A fitting tribute for his final day, I think.

"No Pros Here"

Can someone help me understand this:

...a sign placed at 5th and Eye Streets NW, right in the middle of Inauguration Island. You're reading it right: portions of downtown have been declared a "Prostitution Free Zone" for the Inaugural celebration period. The best part? It has an expiration date, as though at all other times, hookers have free reign over downtown Washington.

What a country.

A Song for Saturday

As many of you know, I have picked up playing the guitar this year. I got my instrument on Christmas and have been playing everyday since. I feel like I'm progressing ahead of the curve, which is exciting. The song I've posted here is by Wyclef, who I wrote about a few days ago. I discovered this song last year by chance while watching a concert of his on TV. I was mesmerized by it. I listened to is several times in a row that day and in the weeks to follow. I'm going to start working on trying to learn it tonight. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do:

And you thought Fort Knox was protected....

I was thinking the other day about inauguration security and I don't think we need to worry about. Not because they aren't people who would love to get a shot at Obama, but it'll be way too hard. My wife made the point that they may be some crazy nut who'll try anyway, and that is a valid point. But this is what they'll face:

...an unprecedented security effort. It will be overseen by the U.S. Secret Service and will include 7,500 active-duty soldiers, 10,000 National Guard troops and 25,000 law-enforcement officers, security officials said.

The lone nut wouldn't have the training you would need to defeat this kind of security force. The only ones who do are the highly trained, ex-military, special forces types. And those guys are way too smart to try something with that many eyeballs looking for anyone to shoot. Your greatest weapon is surprise and the lack of suspicion, and both will be in short supply on Tuesday.

Its Over.

Know hope.

Feltron Report

(Click image to see larger version)

Imagine if you catalogued your entire year. How many miles you walked, how many texts you sent, how many emails you read, how many songs you listened to, how many hours you spent playing games, every time you ate out, how much you spent on subway fare, etc...

What would that look like?

Something like this.

I Won't Steer You Wrong II

I told you about Andrew's site and what a gold mine I thought it was. It was named best blog of 2008.

One day you people will listen to me...

Fraught with Peril

(Fresh Pics features the photographic art of Jean-Yves Lemoigne.)

(Hat Tip: Andrew)

Watchmen

By now you've certainly seen the trailers for Watchmen. I've got to say, I'm pretty excited about this one. Before I saw any trailers for I read about in in EW. The concept is very interesting: Its the superhero tale told in a cultural context. All of them are generally told in a fake universe. In this one Nixon is president and we're still at odds with the Russians. I bought a copy of the novel since its considered the standard for great graphic novel writing, I figured it might be worth a look. Time named it to their "100 great novels of all time" list.

The story explores the question:''What if superheroes really existed? How would they really think? And how would they really affect the world?'' according to one of the creators.

Check it out.

Wyclef Jean

Watch CBS Videos Online

This piece on Wyclef and his work in Haiti. Its a great testament to the man that, in an age of "look at my watch, car, clothes, etc." dominating his primary genre of music, he has chosen the route of giving back. Something he said here struck a familiar chord with me. He said: "Why me?. Why was I given so much when there are 10 million people here who could have gotten the opportunities I was given?". I ask myself the same question often. I'm not rich or famous by many standards. But by the standards of my relatives in Uganda, I am. I feel like I should be doing something bigger with my blessings. Take 12 minutes to watch this video.

Wyclef is an inspiration.

I Won't Steer You Wrong

I have advocated two movies on this blog, Slumdog Millionare and The Wrestler. Last night at the Golden Globes Slumdog won best drama and Mickey Rourke won best actor. I figure that puts my batting average pretty high, no?

Passive Agressive Notes

Passiveaggressivenotes.com is my new favorite site. It is just a collection of these notes with the stories behind them by those who submitted them. Some are better than others, but please, do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes there. There are some doosies....

Human Landscape

Artist Levi van Veluw has an interesting way of expressing himself. Yes, those are cows on his head...

More here.

Its Friday!

Please follow my blog. Upper right hand corner. Thanks. Happy weekend to you....

Its so hard to say goodbye..

In 12 days George W. Bush will be a former president. But his scandals and those of his administration will live in infamy forever. Here is a list of 20 commonly forgotten ones.

Misters President

(Picture from the historic "Power Lunch" that took place Tuesday. This was the first time since 1981 that all this presidential Power was gathered in one room.)

When I saw this image I was moved. I thought "We really did it". Change has come to America indeed.

Obama and Spidey

You know you're popular when....

What happens when you give a bee cocaine?

This:

The researchers looked at honeybees whose job is finding food — flying to flowers, discovering nectar, and if their discovery is important enough, doing a waggle dance on a special “dance floor” to help hive mates learn the location.

“Many times they don’t dance,” Professor Robinson said. “They only dance if the food is of sufficient quality and if they assess the colony needs the food.”

On cocaine the bees “danced more frequently and more vigorously for the same quality food,” Dr. Barron said. “They were about twice as likely to dance” as undrugged bees, and they circled “about 25 percent faster.”

I could have told you that was gonna happen....

Porn Industry Bailout???

From the "You've got to be kidding me" Department:

Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the adult entertainment industry.

On what basis can they make such a request, you may be asking yourself:

Francis said in a statement that “the US government should actively support the adult industry's survival and growth, just as it feels the need to support any other industry cherished by the American people."

I will lose all faith in the American government if this is approved. I don't think it will, but I'm ashamed that it even crossed their minds as a possibility...

Quarter Million Dollar Bathroom?!?

I don't expect the Obama administration to be scandal free, but with new posts like this being created, I do expect a lot less of this:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Sleep easy, taxpayer.

Legacy of Git-Mo

(From The Daily Beast) Muhammad Saad Iqbal was never charged with a crime, but the six years he spent in U.S. custody were a nightmare. Iqbal was arrested in Indonesia in 2002 and judged by American officials not to be a threat. (He had bragged about building a shoe bomb.) But he was taken to Egypt anyway, where he says he was given electric shocks and beaten and made to stand for days. At Guantanamo, he repeatedly tried to commit suicide. Iqbal is now planning to sue the United States. “Who is responsible for the seven years of my life?” he said.

Read his story here.

I was just as indignant as anyone post 9/11. The country, rightfully so, wanted revenge and those responsible to be brought to justice. But these stories and the policies that made them possible were an over-reaction. Someone should be held responsible.

Finally...

I didn't expect this, but reading stories about the winding down of the Bush era are making me smile. Like this one about him packing all his stuff up...

Greed

This group of 19 co-workers in Ohio pooled together their money every year to buy a Lotto ticket with the understanding that they would split the winnings if they ever won. They've been doing this for 5 years. Well, they finally won. $207 Million. The problem is, 4 of the 19 weren't there this year when the money was collected, now they're being cut out. The Unfortunate Four are now suing for their cut.

This is a crying shame. Imagine trying to tell your friend and co-worker of 5 plus years "Sorry, charlie. You weren't here. You go back to work while we go live it up on the beach somewhere." That's messed up. They need to cut these people in. Its just the right thing to do. I don't know if the 4 have a legal case, but this is bad ju-ju for the 15 if they don't let these guys in.

Oh, the horror...

(A skier at Colorado's ritzy Vail resort was left dangling upside down and pants-less from a chairlift last Friday morning.)

I'm sure when this gentleman got up Friday, this was the last thing he thought would happen to him. More pictures here, and here.

Obamatopia

Even as a supporter of his, I know a good joke when I see one. Enjoy:

Slumdog Millionare Review

I encouraged you to go see Slumdog Millionare and I finally took my own advice this Saturday, and I was glad I did.

I don't really feel qualified to write movie reviews, but I figure I can at least let you know how it hit me. You can do with that what you will:

My first reaction was "Whoa! They took you right into the nasty underbelly of India and didn't sugar coat it". They set up cameras in places that must have been nightmares to get to. There were scenes in the move where the main character is being shown as a child, no more than 5, sleeping in a garbage dump. Flies and all. They're not showing you this to win sympathy or to demonize any particular group, its just presented as life for these people, like they were sitting in front of a TV or something. I appreciated that.

I was also struck by the beauty of the people. Its a culture that, as an American, I don't get to see much of. I loved how the actors were young talented and beautiful, and I had never seen any of them before. It helped me remember that the world is a lot bigger than my drive to work.

The story wasn't particularly clever, although it was a different way to have an excuse to tell a story, so I guess it was effective. I never found myself wandering, it kept me curious the whole time.

All in all, a great 2 hours of entertainment. Its different enough from your typical movie that you may even feel like you grew in some small way for having seen it.

Downing St.

(People throw their shoes onto the street in front of the entrance to Downing Street in protest against the continued aerial bombardment of Gaza by Israel on January 3, 2009 in London, England.)

The shoe seems to be alive and well as the new international symbol of protest.

Betsy-China

Sometimes when work gets slow I just surf random blogs (The "next blog" button at the top of this page will take you to some unsuspecting person's blog). I came across this one yesterday and found it interesting. Betsy seems to be on a trip to China to teach English. She posts pictures and captions for each. I've decided that I will copy her model for future trips I take. It seems to be a great way to share your experiences with people.

I've also found some of her observations entertaining.

Betsy on Chinglish:

I’d heard that in the huge effort to prepare beijing for the olympics many of the chinese street and road signs were replaced with bilingual ones, “chinglish” signs would be edited and corrected, taxi drivers were given manuals and encouraged to learn some basic english phrases, olympic volunteers were taught western customs/ ettiquate and a fair amount of english as well.

I’m not trying to make fun of the chinese for not having perfect english on all their signs--English is such a complicated, idiomatic language and i’m sure a lot of chinese people who speak some english also notice the mistakes-- but still it’s pretty entertaining to see the signs and t shirts here. some t-shirts seem like someone randomly opened a book or dictionary and just started copying down the first thing they saw. other t-shirts or signs seem like something just couldn’t be directly translated into english from chinese and come out sounding natural. A few of my favorite signs so far include, (on our block) “The Noble Pet Chamber”, and “Massage of the Blind Man”. i also feel like you just wouldn’t call a sporting store in the U.S., “Hot Wind” or a restaurant “The Glory Hymen Restaurant”. But my favorite has to be “Very Suspicious Supermarket”. Unfortunately that one’s not on our street or i would be a devoted customer.

Isn't the internet wonderful?

Come with me...

Happy Friday to you all. I plan to enjoy some quality NFL football this weekend. Thank you for visiting. If you like what you see, please become a follower (upper right hand corner).

My picks for this weekend: Colts, Ravens, Cards and Eagles advance. Hold me to that.

Weezy Baby

(Left to right: Bird Man and his protege Lil' Wayne)

Lil' Wayne had an unreal 2008. I've been submersing myself into music since high school, from about 1997 on forward. In that time I have never seen an artist, in any genre, saturate the music scene with his material in one year like Mr. Dewayne Carter just did. He sold one million copies of his album, Tha Carter III, in one week, which only two other rappers have ever done(Eminem, 50 Cent). Rap music traditionally doesn't sell well, so couple that fact with his ability to sell that much in an era where everyone is downloading music more than ever before, and you have a really impressive feat on your hands. He was also on every conceivable remix or collaboration. I'm pretty sure he set a record for amount of time on the airwaves. 10 years ago it wouldn't have been possible to do as much music as he has. I read an interview of his where he said that if someone wants him on a song, they wire him some money and he emails them a few bars to insert in their song. So, its highly probable that a lot of the songs you've heard him on he has never met the people he's on the song with.

I consider him to be one of the great rappers today. His style is not as structured as Eminem's, my favorite, but effective in its own way. It almost seems as if he's free-styling all the time, and maybe he is. He's been rapping since before he could legally drive. Anything you've done well for that long has to be second nature at this point.

He's probable over-exposed at this point, if i were him I'd take it slow in 2009. But I doubt that's what he'll do. Most rappers tend to prefer to burn up as much oxygen as they can, while they can. Its as if they all secretly fear the rug being taken out from under them at any moment.

You can take the thug out of the hood...

Reckless Endangerment

Edwin Rivera, a 22 year old man with cerebral palsy was left on a bus all night in 15degree temperatures. He is mute, and was unable to alert anyone to his presence.

Linda Hockaday, 51, who helps the bus driver, faces charges of first- and second-degree reckless endangerment. She was arraigned Friday.

Hockaday was aware Rivera was asleep on the bus, but did not inform the driver he was there, prosecutors allege in a criminal complaint. She didn't want to retrace the bus route and take Rivera home because she had to get to an appointment, the complaint said.

The sheer irresponsibility and neglect here leaves me speechless.

Baby born in mid-air

The logical follow up question becomes: what is the child's citizenship?

Stuff White Peope Like

Stuff White People Like is a site for all my caucasian brothers and sisters, and those of us who like to have a chuckle at their expense. Here is a highlight from the list, #101, Being Offended:

Naturally, white people do not get offended by statements directed at white people. In fact, they don’t even have a problem making offensive statements about other white people (ask a white person about “flyover states”). As a rule, white people strongly prefer to get offended on behalf of other people.

It is also valuable to know that white people spend a significant portion of their time preparing for the moment when they will be offended. They read magazines, books, and watch documentaries all in hopes that one day they will encounter a person who will say something offensive. When this happens, they can leap into action with quotes, statistics, and historical examples. Once they have finished lecturing another white person about how it’s wrong to use the term “black” instead of “African-American,” they can sit back and relax in the knowledge that they have made a difference.

Yuto Miyazawa

8 Year Old Shredder @ Yahoo! Video

As some of you may know, my lovely wife bought me a guitar for Christmas since I've finally decided that I want to learn to play and start songwriting. So, I think it very fitting that this post be my first of the year; an inspiration. If i can get half as good as this kid, I'll be fine with that...

(Hat Tip: Kane S.)